[15x07] December 21st, 2010 [Special]

[15x07] December 21st, 2010 [Special]

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Only real complaint is that they didn't really get to showcase and involve some of the major sites/sights considering everything to be seen on the east coast. Felt like an abrupt and underwhelming ending for what should have been a bit more epic. Compare with s07e03 where they managed to get a lot more emotional peaks both regarding the cars they were driving as well as the places they were visiting. Still though, it's overall great stuff.
 
Anyone else notice the quality of the NYC footage is better than most movies, the Ferrari and SLS looked damn awesome.


oh and the ep was nice too :p
 
Epic episode, really loved the new york bit :)
 
bigdoofus said:
Also IIRC the speed limit on most Virgina highways is 70 mph or 112 kph. so not sure why they were going so slowly, except for laughs.
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The roads around VIR are mostly 55mph, not too many interstates around it. Its like 25/35 right as you get to VIR, very small town that its in.

There are also 2 states that look for modified or fast cars to give them a ticket it seems. CA and VA. VA will give you a modified exhaust ticket even if you are from another state.
 
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Just watched the episode again and have to say that it was brilliant for me the right mix of cocking about and a good road trip, now cant wait for the boxing day special.
 
I gave it a 10, loved it. They really should have hit the dragon before heading up the Blue Ridge Parkway, that's the road we call the best, at least here on the East coast. Anyway, it's nice to have the real Top Gear back. I was trying to imagine Rutledge's horrible monotone narration in the background, kind of funny.
 
haven't watched all of it but it's great

haven't watched all of it but it's great

My only quarrel is that I live in NC and drive in the mountains of North Carolina QUITE frequently and I have never though the blue ridge is the best DRIVING road but just a pretty cruising road.

I wish they could have been more informed because they actually did drive right by some of the actual best driving roads in America that run parallel to the slow, scenic Blue Ridge Parkway.

US 221 from Grandfather Mountain (which is precisely where the episode started) to Blowing Rock is about 1 straight hour of extremely tight curves with a speed limit of 55mph (88 kph). NC 194, US 321...just look at them below.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...36.1922,-81.756821&spn=0.433346,0.617294&z=11

Fun stuff though.
 
Oh, and you certainly can't forget about "the tail of the dragon" aka US 129 at Deals Gap.

That's a bit further away from where they were filming in NC though but that road actually holds records for being one of the curviest highways in america with over 318 turns in just 11 miles.

Sigh...oh well
 
biggie said:
The roads around VIR are mostly 55mph, not too many interstates around it. Its like 25/35 right as you get to VIR, very small town that its in.

There are also 2 states that look for modified or fast cars to give them a ticket it seems. CA and VA. VA will give you a modified exhaust ticket even if you are from another state.
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Thanks for the info. Yeah, that and their anti radar detector policy, coupled with their strict enforcement.
 
Great episode, glad they are back. I laughed so hard during the news! American road trip was a lot of fun to watch, a little bit of history in there.

One thing though, why is this being grouped and tagged as Season 15 Episode 7 when it is very clearly Season 16 episode 1 (they even showed a season preview clip)?
 
good Episode, but certainly not perfect

downsides:
-why the hell an Porsche GT3?? It was just outclassed by the 458 and SLS
If Hammond had to have again - for whatever reason - to take an Porsche, could it not have been something along 911 Turbo S or GT2?
-in-studio was to obviously scripted
-the dragstrip: after the 2nd time they could have at least attempt to manually acclerate/race properly

upsides:
-the major :D
-quite interesting guest/interview

all in all: 8 (for comparison: imo 15x05 (Veyron Supersport + Senna Tribute + Guests) was the last basically perfect Episode aka 10/10)
 
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As a Virginia resident, I'm pretty disappointed in how our road was portrayed. I was so excited when they said they went there, and then that happened. Oh well, at least VIR was pretty cool. Blue Ridge Parkway is pretty sweet when you ignore the speed limits.

Oh, and living right outside Washington, it's not ALL ghetto. Would have been cool to see those cars on Constitution Ave.
 
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7/10 C-

This episode was tepid at best. Nothing hugely exciting or controversial, and the only real significant information was about NASCAR. The way the video was segmented into three parts also damaged the flow from segment to segment. The cinematography was epic and some of the jokes were good, but that didn't really didn't give this episode the more memorable kind of content that TopGear is known for. It was nice to see James' response to the 458, but the Mercedes SLS was really the only car we hadn't seen on the show before (yes, I'm aware the GT3 RS has been updated). I came close to giving this episode a 6, but the racing and excellent imagery bumped it up to a 7 for me.

Edit: I also must add that my opinion about this episode was swayed by Clarkson's mishandling of a firearm. I know that handguns are outlawed in the UK, but that still does not mean that Top Gear should be completely incompetent when it comes to firearms safety. This is a large part of why I almost scored this episode a 6 out of 10. James has done this on at least two occasions that I can remember right now, and Jeremy doing the same shows a complete disregard for the danger involved when handling firearms.

All guns are loaded. Never point a gun at something you don't want to kill.
 
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Now I come to think of it, it's a little bit disappointing that with all the nascar talk, they didn't manage to get in a drive of an actual nascar.
 
Mr. Nice said:
Edit: I also must add that my opinion about this episode was swayed by Clarkson's mishandling of a firearm. All guns are loaded. Never point a gun at something you don't want to kill.
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When I saw him with that gun I thought "oh my god... that is one person who should not be handling weapons."

I'm glad you pointed out the lack of controversy in the episode. I definitely saw that too. TG US business tie-in sensibilities? Hoping to get more US stars for the guest segment? I hope that pushing the envelope is something that never fades from the show.

EDIT: I had a rewatch and just caught that Clarkson put the loaded gun in his mouth. Blink and you'll miss it. I love Jezza, but that's not his greatest moment... in the world...
 
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I gave it a 7.
Loved it but loved it because it was back, not because it was epic.
They behaved this time in the US and that showed...I was expecting something similar to what happened in Alabama.
Either way the quality of the show is simply outstanding, the choice of cars was almost perfect and the boys know how to an audience laughing for the entire show...the pussy beverage bit was brilliant!...
 
In the credits for this episode:
Emergency Stig: Tiff Needell
:D
 
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